By: Adrian Khiat My mother asked me today, "What business are you doing? Why need to work till midnight so often? You business so good meh?" A friend also asked me over the phone today, "Wah. Saw your blog recently that you are taking the last train home everyday. Your business must be real good! right?" Is my business really that good? Busy = Good business? Busy? Yes, I'm very busy. Good business? I can say "Not really". Contradicting? Let me tell you why. As an FA, we attended lots of training. There are new product launches, fund managers investment updates, providers briefings, Company's trainings, Branch meetings, sub-group sharings, conducting trainings for new advisers, etc. There are sure to have something almost everyday and it can take up 3-4 hours of our time. As an FA, we adopt the international 6 steps approach in Financial Planning. Client-Planner Introduction, Fact-finding, Plan development, Recommendation, Implemenation and Review. Each client, meet at least 3-4 times before implementation. Not like a roadshow, 1 time close. As an FA, we do a lot of research. We represent as many as 10 Life Insurance Companies, 20 General Insurance Companies and probably over 30 Fund houses. We are expected by clients to do product and investment comparisons. Comparisons can sometimes take up quite a bit of time. Proper comparison also means proper understanding of each product and we need time to study these products. Read more...